Genesis 12:1-4 and John 3:1-17
Second Sunday in Lent
March 16, 2014
First Christian Church
Mahtomedi, MN
As a kid, I loved looking at maps. I still do love pouring over a map, but when I was younger, I could spend hours looking at a map. The Rand McNally map of the Interstate Highway System was like the Bible to me. I look and see what interstate went where, what cities it came close to and the like. I don’t have the time I did to look at map so intently, but a map from Triple A still gives me joy.
Maps have an important purpose: that is to help guide the driver to their desired destination. Maps can tell you if a road is finished or not, or if there is construction. The whole point of a map is to get you to point B in the most direct and easy way possible. A map should help keep any surprises on your trip to a bare minimum.
Our Scripture in Genesis is an important turning point in the Biblical story. The first eleven chapters of Genesis are considered a pre-history. The creation, the fall, Cain and Abel and Noah and the Ark are all part of this pre-history. Beginning in verse 12 we enter a new story that will take up the rest of Genesis, if not the rest of the book of Genesis. God is going to bring salvation to all of creation through one nation. Abram would be the father of what would become the Jews and as God promised, the Israelites would be a light to the nations and through the God’s people would arise the one person to reconcile us to God: Jesus. But all this had to start somewhere, so it starts with an old man named Abram.
What’s interesting about Abram is that he pulls up stakes and obeys God heading toward Caanan. He was going to give rise to a great nation even though, A- he was old, B- so was his wife Sarai, C-they had no children and D- they had no land. I’m guessing that God is that guy that tells you to do something and then says, “I’ll explain later.”
Abram’s faith wasn’t perfect. He did doubt at times and sometimes came up with his own ideas. But he would always come back to trusting in God’s promise- even if God took a very, very, very, long time to bring it to fruition.
The theme we are using during Lent is Jesus Remember Me. In this story God is calling Abram into something new, but for Abram it involved risk. There was no map to guide him, only a promise from an unknown God. Even though the way was not easy, God didn’t forget Abram and Sarai. One day they are blessed with a son, Issac, who would further God’s promise.
Nicodemus is one result of Abrams faith. In the gospel of John, he has a nighttime meeting with Jesus. He has questions and seeks answers from Jesus. But Jesus doesn’t give him a map, but instead answers his question with riddles. The answer is there for Nicodemus, but to see the answer he has to go from mere belief to faith. He had to be born of the Spirit to have this second sight.
As some of you know, I helped plant a church about a decade ago. I remember one time getting a phone call from someone asking a question about the church. They wanted to know if there was a choir or an organ. We were small and didn’t really have either. The man said thank you and hung up, upset that we weren’t meeting his desire. I think he was more interested in being entertained than he was joining a bunch of fellow sojourners.
The question that many of us here at First are trying to answer these days is about our future. The church has shrunk to a handful of faithful members. Some would say that a church this small is no longer viable and should just close up shop.
As think about how to move forward, a funny thing has happened. Thanks to people like Janice Paulson, we have started finding items from the congregation’s past. A pulpit Bible, a sign, pictures of our old building near downtown St. Paul and a list of pastors since the 1880s. These items are helpful for reminding us that this congregation has been a faithful witness for over a century. A century of people trying to live out God’s promises.
The message of Abram for us today is that a relationship with God has to do with faith and risk. A church or congregation is called to leave our familiar places and follow God in faith as we journey forward to the end of Days when sin will be no more. As a gathered people we are called to witness to the world of the mighty deeds of God. We invite others to join us. And we do all of this without a map.
To be part of this congregation, or any congregation for that matter, is not about being entertained. It isn’t about having an awesome choir, there’s nothing wrong with having a good choir, but it’s just not the focus. We are not here for entertainment, but to journey together trusting in God’s promises in baptism, that we are children of God, that we are washed clean from sin, that we are empowered by the Spirit, part of the wider Church and given eternal life with God.
Trying to be church in this day and time is not easy. Church was something that most people in society went to, because that’s what was done. But we live in a different time where church is just one option of many. We long for the old days when are churches were full (and much larger). But maybe we are where we need to be; ready to hear God’s voice to leave familiar places and ways of doing things and sojourn together to where God takes us for the salvation of the world.
That’s a tall order for a small church. Can we do it. With God’s help? Piece of cake. Thanks be to God. Amen.
The Clockwork Pastor 
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